Date: 5/7/26 8:45 am From: Tommy Goodwin <000007c57ea5d08c-dmarc-request...> Subject: Missouri Spring Bird Count - Trial Run
Hi MO-Bsters,
I am probably going to be biting off more than I can chew with this one, but I have been wanting to implement a Spring Bird Count in Missouri to mirror what Illinois have been doing for the last 54 years. I am under the understanding that MO used to conduct these, but they were abandoned due to lack of involvement; I am going to try to start it back up! Think of this as really similar to Christmas Bird Counts, but instead of a circle the count includes an entire county. I would love to present this in the future to MCHF and MDC, but I want to get a framework built and tested first before I try to get any organization sponsorship/home.
*Please shoot me a message on Discord (another invite to the MO Discord Server at the bottom of this email), email (<tommy.j.goodwin.jr...> <tommy.j.goodwin.jr...>), or text (417-241-9189) if you are interested in this and which county(ies) you would be interested in; if more than one person contacts me for a county, I will put them in contact with each other so that more of those counties can be covered and that we do not overlap efforts.*
This is very last minute, but since we are trying to capture peak spring migration, this count needs to be held on Saturday, May 9 (two days away) with Sunday, May 10 and Monday, May 11 as a second/third day for a second county or additional coverage of the first county if needed; I want a max of two consecutive days for a single county. I have included a link to the documents provided to the IL group for this year, but I haven't had invested the time to redo it for MO without knowing the buy in I will get. Of note, the files include: (1) the IL 2026 SBC Instruction Sheet - 2 pages; (2) the IL 2025 SBC Report (11 pages and I would like to recreate something similar with the MO results even if it is only a handful of counties; we have to start somewhere!); (3) the IL species checklist handout (I would prefer an eBird Trip Report for each county, but an email physical list is fine too).
Again, this is the first year I am trying this, so I understand it may be a lotta crazy and haphazard, but I will deal with that as it comes up and on the back end. Ultimately, I just wanted to open my test run up to other people in case they were interested in helping out.
As a reminder, Missouri has a state-wide Discord server for all things birding. This server is a very powerful tool and is like a hybrid between the list-serve (for heavier content), Slack/Group-Me (for quick turnaround reports), social media (for identification help and photo sharing), and email (for event notifications). It has a mobile and desktop app, so you can be in touch anytime and anywhere (pending you have internet service). When you join the server, you will only be able to see a few channels (e.g. server rules, how to use Discord, new members, and verify). At a minimum, please read through the rules and then go to the verify channel and read the top pinned message which has directions to verify your account (it really is as simple as typing a few words, but the command has to be typed specifically). Once you are verified, an immediate process, all of the public channels will be visible, and you can check out the statewide conversations and resources or click into the category for your region and get involved with your local community. If you have any questions about it, my contact information is listed above.
